John Trigg Ester Library

The John Trigg Ester Library is a home-grown community library that provides a welcoming and intellectually stimulating environment where community members can meet and share ideas and information. The library strives to instill a love of reading and learning, to showcase Ester-area history and culture and to provide resources that will enrich the whole community.

We are a small community-supported membership library open to the public. Unlike public libraries, we depend primarily on individual support, grants and fund raisers for our programs and operations. The membership model is rare, but we knew that it was very unlikely that our small community would ever get a local public library—so we didn't wait. We started our own, and it has been low-cost, low-maintenance, and all-volunteer from its beginning in 1999. Our programs include children's reading and activity sessions, and our “Growing Ester’s Biodiversity” seed library.

In 2013, support came in the form of the donation of a nearby residential cabin with historic gardens in the heart of Ester. Since that time, we have made significant improvements to the cabin: leveling and reinforcing the floor, remodeling the interior, thermal envelope upgrades, roof replacement, installation of a new smart stove, installation of bookshelves and accessible parking and handicapped ramp. Together with free WiFi, we bring literature and computer access within walking, snowmachining, and bicycling distance to local families. The Clausen Cabin, as it is now known, serves as our headquarters, library, garden center, and seed library. It is also an Ester community center, open upon request of our membership, for various meetings and clubs. Our library includes an Alaskana collection and the Ruth Jasper Children's Library.

While our long-term plans include the construction of a new sustainably designed library on JTEL owned property, the Clausen Cabin is our home for the foreseeable future. Your Pick.Click.Give donations help substantially in paying the bills and keeping our doors open, particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic, when our principal fund-raising events have been necessarily curtailed.

Thank you for your support!